Peace always comes from the voice of the MOST HIGH God. My lack of peace is not due to him but originates when I come into agreement with lies spoken over my life, and many times I speak those lies. There is power of life and death in the tongue (Proverbs 18:21).

2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

As Christians we must allow God to form our thoughts and to fill us with knowledge.  All knowledge outside of Christ is deceptive.  There might be some truth to it, but it is not likely going to bring life to your dry bones.  In fact a deep dissatisfaction will tear at your core when you come into agreement with it.

The words of God are pure and loving and when he speaks my entire being lights up with joy and peace.  I know God by His voice and His voice is like honey to my soul.

When I recently walked in heaviness for a few days, it took me some time to figure out that I was coming into agreement with a lie.  The lie worked inside of me bringing dissatisfaction and pain.  I felt inadequate as a minister and as a person.  I even gave in to temptations that I normally would have little difficulty with.

When you entertain the lies of the devil, you are coming into agreement with a power that can destroy your life.  It is very important to realize that this is a toxic argument or a false pretension whose very purpose is to destroy your life.  If you chew on that lie long enough, it will destroy you.

And if you should begin to speak that lie over your life, then you will eat the fruit of it.  Many people will tell you the very hour they are going to die.  One of my uncles told me recently that his people die when they are in their 70’s and therefore he was going to die then too.

If you believe such things then don’t be surprised when it happens, but that is not a word of God for your life.  My bible says, “with long life he will satisfy you.” (Psalm 91) Anything else is lies.

We must be aware of the thoughts that are going through our heads, and we must be aware of the fruit of those thoughts.  If those thoughts produce heaviness and depression then the source is not God, because God will speak life to us even in the midst of our direst circumstances.

And when we become aware of the lies that would destroy, then we must seek God for His word.  I will tell you that once you receive that word, peace and joy will soon follow.

That is my experience.  I have gone through much in this life but God’s voice has always carried me through.

I pray today that you will encounter the refreshing voice of our God.  I ask the Lord to speak to you and to bless you this way even now.

You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour. (Exodus 20:17)

The tenth commandment says: Don’t covet your neighbour’s belongings.  When we spend so much time longing for what others have, then dangerous things can happen.

One of the meanings of covet is to desire (what belongs to another) inordinately or culpably.  Coveting is about wanting what another person has in such a way that you would do something unhealthy to obtain it.

It is one thing to want good things, to see something that your neighbour has and wish that you had something similar, but when you begin to long for what they have with a bitter heart toward that person, then have you entered the realm of sin.

Perhaps somebody you know has a job that you would like to have.  It would be wrong for you to try to destroy that person’s reputation in order to have what it is you believe they have.  You might obtain the position but cause great damage in the other person’s life and your own life.

Instead of desiring the same job perhaps there is an equally good job somewhere else that you might obtain with the right training.  Certainly God understands your desire for a good job.  He can help you to get it too.

Coveting is also serious because you are saying that God does not have a perfect plan for your life.  You are looking at the success of other people and you have determined that there is only so much success to go around, and therefore you want to take something that is not yours, because you have a hidden belief that God can’t provide something similar for you.

God has the ability to raise every person to the place of their greatest satisfaction.  When you are longing for something that is not yours then you are spending energy unwisely, because God certainly has great things in store for your life as well.

God has infinite resources and capacity.  Your friend might have a nice house on top of a hill overlooking a lake that is very beautiful, but certainly there is another house on another lake with an equally beautiful house view.  A prayer to your Father in heaven can unlock the ideal place for you.

When we take what is not ours, we cause a curse to come upon ourselves.  When we long for what another has so ardently that we are willing to see them destroyed in some way in order to have what they have, we are certainly not walking in the spirit of Christ toward them.

We need to rejoice with those who rejoice.  We need to rejoice when people get something that is wonderful for them because if you understand the heart of God, He has great things in store for all His children.

We have all been in the place of jealousy and wrong desire.  We must confess our sin to our Father in heaven and He will forgive us.  He has great blessing in store for your life.  Seek His fullness today and watch what He will do for you and your families.

On the road to our destiny, we would do well to heed these words of Jesus in Luke 12:15: “Beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.”

For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.”  And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. (Hebrews 6:13-15)

To learn to endure through life is one of the assets that can make us the most successful in this life.  We must endure to hear God’s voice and when we have heard it we must endure in what he said until it comes to pass.

There are days that you may feel like quitting.  I have felt that way – even recently.  If the point of life is just to do then doing can become very boring very quickly.

God speaks many promises over our lives.  Sometimes I wonder if I even understand the words that he has spoken.  The promises are both marvellous and scary at the same time.  To walk into the promises can be disheartening especially in the face of the giants in the land, but if we do not walk into them we will never obtain and obtaining them is the goal of life.

Some days it can feel like you are walking in the wilderness.  I don’t know if you have ever done this but when you are in the wild outdoors every corner can look the same.  And when you don’t know how many corners there are until you reach your goal it can be overwhelming and you can even feel like quitting.

There are seasons and times that I am very excited about the journey and then there are times that I feel like I have achieved very little.  This usually happens to me when I compare myself to my peers.  Sometimes when I see what others have accomplished it seems like I have accomplished very little.  When I see who my friends have achieved it overwhelming because I don’t feel like I have achieved what they have achieved.

Enduring in these times and hearing the voice of God is crucial because when God speaks it so refreshing.  Even now I long for a drop of the water of life.  His word is life and when I hear it, it becomes strength to my bones.

God’s word over your life has the ability to bring you down the road many miles.  We learn to endure through many obstacles because of the sound of it in our hearts and in our minds.

Usually when I realize that I have been walking in heaviness or turmoil I come to understand that I have walked away from the voice of God and into the voice of my own heart or the enemy’s voice.  The enemy is ferocious and destroying and his words over my life are heavy.

When the realization comes that God has a good word for my life, hope starts to return to me because in that moment I put myself into a place of hearing His word again.

May you always remember this as you advance toward your destiny.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Recently I travelled by van with my wife and four sons to Newfoundland.  That is where I grew up as a boy and a teenager.

Every turn that I took on that great island was a reminder of where I came from.  I saw it in my relatives’ faces.  I saw it in the house that my father built for us when we were young.  I heard it in my 88-year old grandmother’s prayer that she prayed for me as I left her, perhaps for the last time.

I stood in places where my memories are the oldest.  Some of those memories were good and some not so good.  I shared the good and bad places with my wife and sons.

Many of my early fears came back to visit me.  I saw the day my parents broke up.  I saw the days that I had to travel 10 hours by bus between my parents, crying as I left one to get to the other.  I saw the days that I played with my young cousin and I saw the days that I was bullied in school.

Each memory I tossed over and over in my mind, trying to hear God’s voice in the midst of it.  I wanted to hear Him say that I was where He wanted me to be.

But what I think I heard was that life is a journey and that the places that we visit along the way are refining stations where God has His way with us.  Once again I was reminded that life is a journey and that we are like sojourners travelling between here and heaven.  We don’t know what to expect along this journey but we do know that God is in control.

There are days that we cry out to God because we do not know how we are going to get around the next turn.  And then the next turn comes and is gone and we are still somehow moving forward into places we have never been before.

I found myself praying for courage as my van travelled the 7000 kilometers that I drove between my new home in Ontario and my ancient home of Newfoundland where many generations of my people lived.

With four young sons and plenty of hardships thrown our way, prayer was often our only way forward.

And then I thought to myself “Isn’t that really the essence of life!”  We have no idea what we are going to face.  We expect a beautiful view around every turn and yet there are times that view is mixed with hardship.

My deepest prayers were not for others on that journey but for myself.  I prayed that the Lord would keep us from evil and that we would make it to our destinations safely.  I was always feeling somehow away from home and lost.  When you and your family and vehicle are 3000km from home you can feel overwhelmed and anxious.  Yet God had us in His hands all the time. He kept reassuring me that my family and I were alright and that we were going to make it home–and we did.

And His promise for you in Christ is that even when you face hardships and trials of many kinds, you will make it home.  Home is heaven and we are wayward travellers—strangers in a strange land.

I pray today that God will reassure you of His promises and plans for your life as you advance toward your destiny.

“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”  (Psalm 91:1)

Once when I was flying from Kentucky to Maryland while sitting in a window seat, I began to notice the clouds beneath. It was an absolutely stunning day. You could see the trees below and they were changing all sorts of fall colors.

But it was the shadow of the clouds that stood out most to me this day. Usually when I am flying I don’t see the shadows of the clouds but rather I see the clouds themselves. This day there were hundreds of small clouds to be seen and underneath them – and on the ground – was the exact same shape of the cloud in shadow form.

It started to strike my spirit that it was the shape of the cloud that provided the shade for me during my lazy summer time siestas under the trees. It was the shadow of the cloud that I longed for in the hottest days of summer.

And then my mind wandered to Psalm 91:1 which says, whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most high WILL REST in the SHADOW of the Almighty. I began to understand this verse differently in my present encounter on the plane.

I only need the Lord’s shadow to bring me comfort. What an amazing thought! During the times of the greatest heat in my life all I need is the shadow of God to fall upon me and I will find rest for my soul.

And indeed this has been my experience. When crisis does come, I seek His face and in His face I come to the place of peace and rest.

I have actually come to the place spiritually that when a situation that seems negative arises, I do a quick internal analysis. I say to myself: “Can you still feel the shadow of God in the face of these circumstances?” The answer, of course, is always “YES.”

And because I can feel that shadow of peace and rest in my heart I know that this situation will also pass, and I will be alright and my family will be alright. There is nothing that can upset me for long, as long as I seek the assurance of His presence.

“In His presence there is fullness of joy.” (Psalm 16:11), and all we need is the shadow of His presence for this joy to be full.

This just speaks to me of the greatness of God. His spirit transcends every negative trial that you might face. In fact, in time you might come to rejoice in trials because you see the grace and eternal life that they are producing in your life. James said to “Consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds.” (James 1:2).

The truth is when I face my roughest roads God is there in the midst of them. He pours out His spirit in those times in a very special way. I don’t look for trouble, but when it comes, I am thankful because I know a greater outpouring is at hand.

I pray for you today. I ask the Lord to strengthen you in the face of your current trial. I ask Him to send joy and peace like garments so that you may sense His presence at all times. I ask God to pour His presence out over your life and that you might remain in the shadow of the Almighty always.

“Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:18-19)

I have preached on these verses many times.  There isn’t anywhere that I have preached that I haven’t said something about the two natures and the two Adams.  I think it is the understanding of this message that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Because of Adam, the first man, sin entered into all of humanity like a virus.  Every man or woman born after Adam was born into a dying humanity.  We were each plagued by sin.  There was no way we could escape it.  We were born to die.

There is a song that says, “I fought the law and the law won.”  Each man born into sin tries to overcome his sin by his own means.  He doesn’t want to believe that he is a sinner.  Each one of us tries to justify their own sin.  Some will say that they were born a certain way and therefore how could God call it sin.

The word of God calls sin evil and declares that not one man was ever born righteous.  Each one of us is guilty of the evil we commit. It matters not whether we define the evil as good or evil.  Just because you call evil good and good evil doesn’t change the way God sees it.

Our entire generation may call some form of sin good but it isn’t good, it is still evil.

The miracle of Jesus is that He came and destroyed the power of sin in our lives.  He was the new prototype of mankind.  When He came He showed us that we could live a different way and not by any strength within us.  He was the sacrifice that allowed us all to become new.

I remember the season that I came to understand this.  It was such a joy to my heart.  I remember the thought dawning on me like the morning sun.  It was tremendously liberating to learn that I no longer had to carry the weight of the evil that I once committed, because my wonderful Jesus had set me free.

Each day I began to see this more and more.  Every time the enemy condemned or my own conscience convicted me, I began to see the countenance of God inside of me.  I could see how His grace liberated me and His peace remained deep in my heart.  It was this peace and joy within me that made me understand that I was no longer a man bound by sin, but now I was a new man bound by grace.

Every time I preach this message signs and wonders follow.  This message is the good news of Christ and those who live by it are free indeed.

Every morning I learn more and more about my God.  The more that I learn the more I understand that He is a God of mercy and grace.  He has great laughter and loves me more than I could ever understand.  He loves you the same way too.

May you always remember this as you keep on advancing toward your destiny.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (John 3:3-7)

My understanding of the above passage has changed through time.  Once I was like Nicodemus who just didn’t understand what it meant to be born again.  Even the explanation that Jesus provided to him was just words and wasn’t good enough to get me to the place of understanding.

But then I began to understand what it meant to be born of the Spirit because I encountered the pure waters of baptism.

I remember when His Spirit began to flow into me in a new way.  I remember a new strength rose up inside of me and I began to understand that my life was now different in Christ.

It was like all my old thought patterns were immediately changed by the voice of God speaking in my heart.  When I was washed by the presence of God in that moment I was never the same again.

This new birth wasn’t something I could do myself.  It was indeed a supernatural occurrence.  The day that I felt His presence birth me into the Spirit I was actually lost in the place of the presence and could feel the change taking place deep within me.

I remember for three days feeling the washing of the Spirit over my life.  I was invigorated and brought to life.  I was completely made new.  Old things in that moment passed away and I became a brand new man.  I was no longer bound by the flesh but I was free to be myself in a way I had never been before.  It was like fear was being lifted from me.

My dreams started to change.  I started to see myself flying in the Spirit.  I began to have visions of butterflies and dragonflies flying free in the sky.  I was starting to move into the place of God’s grace and the winds of His presence in my heart were both liberating and refreshing at the same time.

Those few days were like the springtime of my life.  There was freshness everywhere, and every place I looked I could see flowers blooming and water drops dropping.  It was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me.

This was my born again experience.  I began to hear God’s voice and it was sweet.  I began to see angels and to have visions of heaven.  I have never been the same since.

Have you experienced the same birthing in your spirit?  Has the Father touched you in that very special way and you came alive like you have never been alive before? Please share your experience(s) with the rest of your DWOD family.

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:33-34)

Many times when I minister to people the Lord shows me that they have concerns about how their next meal or their next bill will be paid for.  Often when I see this I just quote the above verse to them as an act of prophecy.

I will say something like, “I see that that you are struggling with many things, but the Lord would have you know that you should not worry about tomorrow’s problems because sufficient for tomorrow is its own problems.”

This is the truth, because it is the word of God.  I have lived many years now as a born-again-spirit-filled believer and while there have been times that I felt that I lacked, I have never gone without the essentials of life.  I have seen others live the same way.

I have seen people whom I felt should not make it in the natural.  They just did not seem to have the right stuff to make it day by day and somehow God even supplied their needs.  While they may have wanted to have more, the reality is they had enough.  They always had food to eat and a place to live.

In Christ, that is the way it is.  I have not known anyone who has turned to Christ who has gone long without His hand of provision on their life.

Prosperity for the Christian is to not live in lack.  It is not about having millions.  When I see the spirit of prosperity on a Christian’s life, it is about having enough for their daily bread and having enough to help their brother or sister in need.  It is about the peace of God in their hearts and minds–an assurance that everything will be alright.

I have to say that my God has prospered me even when I made bad decisions.  The bad decisions didn’t seem to bother him.  He just kept on supplying my need time and time again.

I remember when my wife and I were first married in 2007.  We were given a vehicle to drive that I thought cost a lot of money to fill with fuel.  So I made a bad decision to trade that car in for a more fuel-efficient car.  It was a small car that we outgrew within a year.  I had a loan for that car.  A year later I had to get another loan for a van that cost 30% more in fuel than the car I traded the year before.  I now had a huge loan that could have been avoided had I acted in wisdom.

But God has been faithful and always supplied the money for that loan.

Our God is a good God.  He understands our weaknesses and blesses us anyway.  I have made other bad choices since that time, but He keeps blessing me and we continue to bless many people with the resources that we do have.

One of the keys to having God’s provision is to look to Him alone and not to man.  Many people look to men to provide for them, but even the wealthiest man on earth doesn’t have enough to take care of everyone.  But God owns the cattle on a thousand hills.  He can make money appear in your life from sources you did not expect.

When your eyes are on God alone, you will experience true prosperity.  You will see provision come in ways you never expected and you will always be amazed at His goodness.

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)

I remember the days before I started to see people healed.  The thought of praying for someone for healing was a completely overwhelming thought for me.  I used to believe that if they did not get healed when I prayed for them that I was at fault.

This was not a healthy way for me to think.  It actually stopped me time and time again from praying for people.

I don’t know where I learned it, but through the years I have received much training on praying for the sick.  What I came to learn was that I am not responsible for healing anyone but simply to pray and if I keep on praying eventually someone will get healed.

I remember hearing stories about Smith Wigglesworth who prayed for many people before they were healed, and really this has been the experience of any person who has engaged in such a ministry.

Not everybody that I pray for gets healed even now, but surprisingly more and more people do get healed.  So I continue to pray.

I have been around men and women of God who have strong healing gifts and the thing that I have noticed about them is that they do not give up.  Even when it doesn’t look like a person is completely healed, they celebrate a partial healing.  They even celebrate the peace they see in the person’s heart.

In the past few years I have seen some tremendous healings.  There are people that define my ministry as both prophetic and healing, which kind of makes me laugh because I never really thought of myself as a healer, but I kept praying and because I did, eventually I began to see people touched by God in this way.

The key is to keep praying.  You will see people die of cancer, but if you don’t pray for someone with cancer. you will never see them healed.  You must pray even when they continue to die.

I remember one man that I prayed for about three years ago.  He came into the church with 18 of his family members.  I prayed for him to be healed of cancer.  He got touched by Holy Spirit that night in a real way, and although he died later, he gave his heart to the Lord that night and kept talking about the experience he had at our church until he died.  His whole family saw him touched by God in a real way.  They heard him testify of God’s goodness even in the face of his terminal disease.

Had I decided that night not to pray for him that testimony may not have reached the ears of his family and he certainly may not have had the peace that he had on his deathbed.  They would not have heard of the goodness of the Lord and he may not have made it to heaven.

And so some will be healed and some won’t be, but you should not judge the merit of your prayer.  Only God knows what that prayer really accomplished. Therefore, keep on praying and keep on asking and eventually the door of healing prayer will be opened up to you.

Dear DWOD friend, my prayer for you today is that you will step out past your boundaries.  Perhaps many people have prophesied over you that you have a healing gift.  The only way that gift will arise is if you exercise it and that takes faith.  I pray that kind of faith will overtake you today as you advance towards your destiny.

“This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb:
I am the Lord, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers…” (Isaiah 44:24-26a)

God can do what He says He is going to do.  It is as simple as that.  It might seem impossible and it might seem strange, but if God says He is going to do it then He will be faithful to perform His word.

Isaiah 44:24-28 is a great passage.  In it God says that He is faithful to perform the words of His messengers and then Isaiah begins to say some things that seem impossible. But if God said it, the message that we are left with is that it will come to pass.

God told Sarah that she would have a baby in her old age and she laughed because she didn’t believe the word of the Lord and yet it came to pass.

The people of Israel murmured in the desert because they lacked faith that God could take care of them.  Yet He gathered His people after forty years of wandering and they crossed the Jordan on dry ground into the Promised Land.

God is faithful to His word and if He has spoken a promise over your life, it will come to pass.  You do not have to grow weary.  God’s word is not like your own word.  Your own words can have very little meaning but the word of God is true and it must come to pass.  God is not a man that He should lie.  When He speaks, all heaven and earth move to perform His word.

What you need to ask yourself is whether what you believe is from God or from your own heart or worse still from the devil.  If it is from your own spirit or the devil it will not likely amount to anything.  I know many people who believe for things that have not been spoken to them by God and they grow frustrated as a result.

But when a person has a word from the Lord, they can walk through many trials and many tribulations and they do not grow weary.  A person who has been told by God that his or her family will serve the Lord knows the truth of that word deep in their hearts.  They know it must come to pass and so many years may come and go before it does come to pass, but that person does not grow weary in waiting because they have heard from God.

Has God spoken a promise into your heart?  Is there something that you have been waiting for?

I pray that God will strengthen you today and remind you of what He has spoken.   May it come like a dream or a vision of the night or may it come like the still small voice of God, but I pray that a refreshing will come for you today.